We all know LA. is an abbreviation for a big city in California, but most people don’t know the full name. It is, “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.”
More Unexpected Facts About Los Angeles
It is legally illegal to drive more than 2,000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at once. You can, however, herd up to 2,000 sheep without breaking the city ordinance.
The famous Hollywood Sign originally said “HOLLYWOODLAND.” Built in 1923 as an outdoor billboard for a real estate development, the final four letters were removed during a restoration in 1949.
Los Angeles is home to an active, working oil field hidden in plain sight. High schools, shopping centers, and office buildings often double as camouflaged oil rigs—including a 14-story, brightly painted tower right on the campus of Beverly Hills High School.
It holds the world record for the shortest railway line. The Angels Flight funicular railway in Downtown L.A. covers a track of just 298 feet (about 91 meters) up Bunker Hill.
L.A. has a secret network of underground tunnels. Built during Prohibition to move illegal alcohol between speakeasies beneath the city streets, the roughly 11 miles of tunnels have also been used to transport prisoners and VIPs away from crowds.
Santa Monica Pier’s famous Ferris wheel is 100% solar-powered. It was the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel, operating on a series of panels that capture the Southern California sun.
There are more cars than people in Los Angeles County. Vehicles occupy roughly 14% of the city’s total land area, dedicated strictly to streets, freeways, parking structures, and driveways.
The Tar Pits in the middle of the city are still actively bubbling. La Brea Tar Pits is one of the world’s most famous paleontological urban sites, where natural asphalt continuously seeps up from the ground, trapping prehistoric fossils—and occasionally confusing modern tourists.
L.A. was once a major producer of celery and avocados. Long before it became the entertainment capital of the world, much of the Los Angeles Basin was dominated by citrus groves, bean fields, and massive agricultural farms.
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